An infinite spirit

Can American publishers be dissuaded from foisting absurd, bombastic subtitles on their books as if readers are all Trumpers avid for tawdry, over-simplified stunts? Howard Bloch is a professor at Yale whose previous books have had medieval French literature, the Bayeux tapestry and medieval misogyny as their subject matter. He has taken an entertaining diversion in his career by writing a relaxed and accessible book about Mallarmé’s poem of 1897, ‘Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard’ (‘One toss of the dice will never abolish chance’) and its place in belle époque Paris. The professor’s erudition and light touch need no Barnum-style booming.

There is nothing incredible in the story of Stéphane Mallarmé, who once edited a women’s fashion magazine but spent most of his working life as a schoolmaster teaching English. The French art of living with unostentatious comfort, gentle ease and healthy satisfaction was exemplified by the poet-schoolmaster.